Relatives mourn the killing of their kin in an attack by Somali forces and supported by U.S. troops, at the Madina hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 25, 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Feisal Omar)

New details emerged Tuesday about the possible motivations behind a bomb attack that killed more than 300 people in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu over the weekend—the deadliest such violence in the nation’s history—with the information suggesting the bombing may been in direct retaliation for a raid by U.S. soldiers this summer that left 10 civilians, including children, dead.

Investigators believe the attack on Saturday may in part have been motivated by a desire for revenge for the botched US-led operation in August.

Al-Shabaab has not claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack but a member of the cell detained by security forces has told interrogators the group was responsible, one security official told the Guardian.

Following the raid, in which three children aged between six and 10 died, local tribal elders called for revenge against the Somali government and its allies.

Not only was the bomber from the specific community targeted by the raid, but the investigation is also uncovering a series of other links to the town where it took place.

While the Somali government at the time apologized for what they described as a “case of mistaken identity” and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said it was “conducting an assessment” of the joint raid, local villagers called it nothing but a “massacre” of innocent farmers and young boys:

“These local farmers were attacked by foreign troops while looking after their crops,” the deputy governor of the Lower Shabelle region, Ali Nur Mohamed, told reporters in the wake of the killings. “The troops could have arrested them, because they were unarmed, but instead shot them one by one mercilessly.”

Critics of the U.S. military presence in Africa, and in Somalia specifically, have long argued that the so-called “war on terror”—as it has elsewhere in the world—is actually making the problem of terrorism worse, not better.

According to a comprehensive United Nations study published last month, evidence shows that in “a majority of cases, state action appears to be the primary factor finally pushing individuals into violent extremism in Africa.”

Of more than 500 former members of militant organisations interviewed for the report, the Guardiannoted, 71 percent pointed to “government action,” including “killing of a family member or friend” or “arrest of a family member or friend” as the incident that prompted them to join a group.

“State security-actor conduct is revealed as a prominent accelerator of recruitment, rather than the reverse,” the UN report stated.

Earlier this year, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimated that since 2004, at least 300 people have been killed in Somalia as a result of at least 42 confirmed U.S. drone strikes.

On Friday the House overwhelmingly approved a massive increase in military spending, passing a $696 billion National Defense Authorization bill for 2018. President Trump’s request already included a huge fifty or so billion dollar spending increase, but the Republican-led House found even that to be far too small. They added another $30 billion to the bill for good measure. Even President Trump, in his official statement, expressed some concern over spending in the House-passed bill.

According to the already weak limitations on military spending increases in the 2011 “sequestration” law, the base military budget for 2018 would be $72 billion more than allowed.

Don’t worry, they’ll find a way to get around that!

The big explosion in military spending comes as the US is planning to dramatically increase its military actions overseas. The president is expected to send thousands more troops back to Afghanistan, the longest war in US history. After nearly 16 years, the Taliban controls more territory than at anytime since the initial US invasion and ISIS is seeping into the cracks created by constant US military action in the country.

The Pentagon and Defense Secretary James Mattis are already telling us that even when ISIS is finally defeated in Iraq, the US military doesn’t dare end its occupation of the country again. Look for a very expensive array of permanent US military bases throughout the country. So much for our 2003 invasion creating a stable democracy, as the neocons promised.

In Syria, the United States has currently established at least eight military bases even though it has no permission to do so from the Syrian government nor does it have a UN resolution authorizing the US military presence there. Pentagon officials have made it clear they will continue to occupy Syrian territory even after ISIS is defeated, to “stabilize” the region.

And let’s not forget that Washington is planning to send the US military back to Libya, another US intervention we were promised would be stabilizing but that turned out to be a disaster.

Also, the drone wars continue in Somalia and elsewhere, as does the US participation in Saudi Arabia’s horrific two year war on impoverished Yemen.

President Trump often makes encouraging statements suggesting that he shares some of our non-interventionist views. For example while Congress was shoveling billions into an already bloated military budget last week, President Trump said that he did not want to spent trillions more dollars in the Middle East where we get “nothing” for our efforts. He’d rather fix roads here in the US, he said. The only reason we are there, he said, was to “get rid of terrorists,” after which we can focus on our problems at home.

Unfortunately President Trump seems to be incapable of understanding that it is US intervention and occupation of foreign countries that creates instability and feeds terrorism. Continuing to do the same thing for more than 17 years – more US bombs to “stabilize” the Middle East – and expecting different results is hardly a sensible foreign policy. It is insanity. Until he realizes that our military empire is the source of rather than the solution to our problems, we will continue to wildly spend on our military empire until the dollar collapses and we are brought to our knees. Then what?

Following the highjacking of a cargo ship near the coast of Somalia in April of 2009, ocean transport companies began taking the threat of modern day pirates seriously. For years Somali pirates were able to easily board ships and hold their crew for ransom, at times even going so far as to torture or kill hostages until their demands were met.

But it looks like the pirate business has gotten significantly more dangerous for maritime criminals who are often under-equipped and travelling in speed boats.

As the following series of videos shows, U.S. security contractors are prepared to take rapid and deadly action when being pursued or engaged on the high seas:

One guard begins by firing warning shots around the boat which can be seen landing just feet away from the speedboat.

After firing dozens of rounds at the speedboat which crashes into the ship’s hull, one contractor can be heard shouting: ‘Where they at, what’s their position?’

As one speedboat careers off in retreat security can be heard calling: ‘Second skip coming in.’

A second boat races towards the starboard of the ship.

Security guards fire dozens more rounds at the vessel which eventually retreats.Full report: The Daily Mail

In the first video, security contractors initially fire warning shots at an approaching ship. The initial volley of firepower doesn’t seem to slow the pirates down, however, leading to a barrage of bullets:

In the second video, shot from various angles, we see the contractors engage a second pirate vessel (skip to about 0:45 for new footage):

According to common maritime law, a ship that is engaged in international waters may defend itself through force when confronted by armed pirates:

Private security teams patrol the decks of around 40% of large vessels in the “high-risk area” that stretches from the Persian Gulf to the Seychelles in the south and the Maldives in the east. When pirates attack, these armed guards respond with flares or warning shots. This usually scares off assailants (or sends them in search of easier prey). If it fails, they fire at an attacking boat’s engine, before finally turning their sights on the pirates. No ship carrying armed guards has so far been hijacked.

The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he is deeply troubled by the scale and nature of grave violations against children in Somalia and their increased use in military actions since 2015.

A boy carry ammunition including a rocket propelled grenade for Islamic fighters stands during a lull in clashes with government forces, Friday, July 3, 2009 in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Over the past two months, Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed’s government has come under heavy attacks from Islamic insurgents pounding government positions with mortars and targeting senior officials in suicide attacks. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)

Children are easy targets to recruit for military purposes during wars; they’re vulnerable and easily influenced. Many are seized and recruited by force, whereas others voluntarily join to escape the reality and circumstances of the difficult situation they may already face.

Throughout history, and in many cultures, children have been extensively involved in military campaigns – even when such practices were against cultural morals. During World War I, the United Kingdom reportedly used approximately 250,000 boys under the age of 18 as soldiers.

During World War II, child soldiers fought throughout Europe, in the Warsaw Uprising, in the Jewish resistance, and in the Soviet Army. When World War II ended and the United Nations was established, a number of international conventions were rectified to try and limit the participation of children in future armed conflicts.

In 1977, the Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions prohibited the military recruitment and use of children under the age of 15. In 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court considered the use of children in armed conflict as a war crime. In fact, these laws apply to both government-controlled armed forces and non-state armed groups.

Somalia is a country in East Africa. It has been embroiled in a bloody civil war since 1991. According to statistics, the civil war has claimed up to 500,000 lives, and almost entirely destabilized the Somali government. It has also created an environment for al-Qaeda affiliates, and other jihadist groups to grow. In 2006, a multi-ethnic jihadist group known as al-Shabaab emerged in the country. al-Shabaab opposes the small Somali Federal government that controls the capital city of the country, Mogadishu.

The militants control vast territories of the country, despite the intervention by African Union troops in Somalia to prevent them from taking control of the whole nation. The Somali armed forces, together with the African Union forces are fighting al-Shabaab. The conflict is one of the more active armed conflicts in Africa and greatly threatens the stability of the continent.

In a new report released by the United States, the body’s new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has noted a large number of children serving as soldiers in both the Somali army and al-Shabaab. The report has been put before the Security Council, with Guterres urging the council to take immediate action to save these vulnerable children from the situation.

Guterres said al-Shabaab uses children as low as nine years of age. These vulnerable children are taught how to use weapons and sent to the frontlines to fight. The children are also used to transport explosives, work as spies, carry ammunition or perform domestic chores, according to Guterres. The United Nations chief revealed more than half of al-Shabaab’s forces consisted of children, and at least 60% of the group’s “elements” captured in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region in March 2016 were youngsters.

Guterres reported that when captured children were interrogated, they revealed they were approached with the promise of education and jobs by the militants. Guterres stated that nearly 6,200 children were recruited over a six year period in Somalia.

According to the details of the report, a task force in Somalia verified the recruitment and use of 6,163 children – 5,993 boys and 230 girls – during the period April 1, 2010, to July 31, 2016, with more than 30% of the cases occurring in 2012.

Al-Shabaab accounted for 70%, or 4,213, of the verified cases, followed by the Somali National Army with 920 children recruited, the report indicated.

Guterres said he was deeply troubled by the scale and nature of grave violations against children in Somalia, and the increase of their numbers since 2015. He urged all parties in the Somalian conflict to stop recruiting children and committing violations against them, and to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law. The Security Council is still deliberating on how best to rescue these vulnerable children from the frontlines.